Ensayo de orquesta

This is likely the finest make-believe documentary that I have ever seen. The setting is a rundown Medieval Roman chapel, now an oratorio where an orchestra gathers. A television crew is making a documentary about this orchestra (while the orchestra is dealing with a union dispute). The bulk of the film's first half focuses on individual musicians, many of whom reminisce about their first encounter with the instrument they play. When the musicians talk about their instrument, they often share thoughtful and stimulating metaphors about the meaning and the function of their instrument. There are a few times during the film where the action is interrupted by a large rumble in the building. We don't know what this is exactly until the end of the film. The film transforms from poetic, to pure comical delight, to complete chaos, to lyrical beauty when the musicians play the music.

Composer Nino Rota's contribution was an immense one. He composed all of the pieces the musicians play in the film, and I believe they the music is absolutely wonderful (my personal favorite of Rota's compositions for "Orchestra Rehearsal" being the final piece the orchestra performs). This was the last time Rota scored a Fellini film, he died the next year.

I also must comment on the top-notch cinematography, which is quintessentially Felliniesque (ex. incredible long shots of the orchestra playing, shots of musicians lined up in very particular angles, and a couple of sweeping pans).

Anybody who loves orchestral music will like this film to some degree. I happen to immensely love Fellini, Rota, AND orchestral music, so for me, this film is nothing short of absolutely marvelous entertainment!

It is rather neglected a movie by Fellini, but I agree with those who see it as a 'metaphor' of the Italian society; not of the Italian society in general, but of the Italian society at the end of the '70s. After 1968, there was turmoil in the country and the artist's message is quite clear, apparently: prolonged social strife can lead to dictatorial outcomes. The message is not so clear at the beginning of the film and it might be seen as a sort of a 'documentary', but when that huge stone 'ball' starts pounding on the building where the 'orchestra' are rehearsing and a faraway voice starts becoming more and more clear and strong, Fellini's message becomes obvious.

Perhaps not your usual Fellini film, if there is such a thing, but, made between his Casanova (1976) and City of Women (1980), this is an intriguing if rather short and enigmatic piece. Ostensibly a documentary but almost as soon as the musicians begin turning up, all does not seem to be quite as expected. Has the director really found an orchestra with so many oddball characters? Is the German conductor a fascist dictator in disguise? Are the proceedings really to be monitored by a trade union shop steward? Is this more a comment upon Italian politics of the time than a showcase for music? All may be revealed to each upon his or her own viewing and interpretation but for me it is a brave and amusing piece that perhaps loses a fair bit without awareness of the considerable turmoil within Italy at the time. One of the most interesting elements happens to be that Nino Rota wrote the music that is rehearsed and then performed within the film and that it was one of the last things he did before dying the following year, having scored around 150 films including almost every single one for Federico Fellini.

This movie is one of my all-time favourites: through the "metaphor" of music, a universal picture of a power struggle is shown. Although this may appear 'thin', many layers of this struggle are peeled off. The German (looking) conductor appears to portray an easy comparison to Adolf Hitler, but another could be to Herbert von Karajan, the dictatorial conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker. And then there is the great music score, that still lingers in my head, although I have not been able to find a recording of it (CD/LP?)(after almost 30 years!). I saw this movie again some years ago and it does not look dated. While I am not a Fellini adept and this movie was seen as one of his minor ones, this is a real classic to me.

I read some people saying that this film made no sense, and that it's just a orchestra rehearsal; it hurst how wrong they are. As any other Fellini, you have to scratch the surface, and you will find a great meaning. That's what I love about his films, they make you think! If you think nothing happened in this movie, go watch a Transformers film, you'll probably thing that there's a lot going on while there's nothing at all. While it may lack Fellini's characteristic powerful visuals, it has a very powerful meaning about politics, society and life. Awesome movie, and great for it's lenght